Morpeth 1st XI v Marton Furness 1st XI

 Result: 2-3 loss
Scorers: D. Calder
MOM: Ritchie Brown
DOD: Stuart Fairbrother correction Ayad Shafiq. (Editor)

Morpeth faced high flying Marton Furness on a chilly Saturday afternoon. Going into the game with a team dominated by defence minded players, some shuffling of positions was required among the Morpeth ranks.

The game started in a very free flowing manner, with both sides looking to gain the early advantage by pressing high. It was the away side that had the early share of possession, moving the ball quickly into the Morpeth 25, but unable to apply the finishing touch. After the first 10 minutes, the home side managed to get a foot hold in the game and create some counter offence. The rather unique front line of Malecki, Brown and Valentine worked well together to create movement and space for the supporting Shaff and Carmichael.

The deadlock was eventually broken towards the end of the first half after a period of sustained build up play. A ball threaded through from Shaff to find Brown, who cleverly played a deflection pass to Calder on the back post who slotted home to give them the lead.

A positive chat at half time had Morpeth racing out of the blocks in the hunt for more goals. The solid back line of Fairbrother, Dye, Holmes and Mellor denying any opportunities for the Furness attack. However Morpeth’s high press allowed the away side into the ‘D’ to score a rather scrappy goal to draw the scores level. Minutes later, a rather controversial penalty flick was awarded to Furness, and before they knew it Morpeth found themselves 2-1 down. However a resolute attitude meant the men in green and gold kept up the pressure and high work rate, which paid off when again the ball fell to Calder in the D who calmly finished to draw the game level. Morpeth thought they had done enough to earn themselves a point, however one final twist came when Furness were awarded a short corner as the final whistle went. Pushing all their players forward, they managed to claim the latest of winners to deny Morpeth a much deserved draw.

All in all a very fast paced and eventful game off hockey, which Morpeth felt disappointed to lose at the end. But a much improved performance on recent weeks means they will look on next week’s fixture away to Newcastle Uni in high spirits.

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